A Rose-y Engagement
by kikila
Summary: It's funny, Scorpius and me. We went out for most of fourth year, but we split mutually in the first week of fifth year. I dated other boys, but then I met him at the bar at a party three years ago, and the rest is history. Now we're engaged, but there's just one problem with that: our parents. My parents want to meet him, his parents want to meet me, and I want to meet a cold beer
1. In which the meetings are arranged

**Okay, so here's the stereotypical "meet the parents" fic, Rose Diaries-style. It's not in diary-format, and it takes place 10 years after the original. Rose is older, but I think that while she's aged and matured, her voice is still the same. While you don't need to read "the Rose Diaries" to understand this story, there are references in this story to that one that could enhance your reading experience. I hope you all enjoy!**

**PS: Anyone get the title? :-)**

* * *

"I don't eat mushrooms," I tell him.

"Not even in a wine sauce?" he replies.

"Never." I am very firmly entrenched in my opinions about mushrooms.

"Well, Mother's not going to like that," he says, twisting a piece of my hair around his finger, "mushrooms are about all she can cook. Nellie does the rest."

"House elf?" I ask him.

"No, maid. We don't have an elf. None of them want to work for us." He frowns a bit, and I hear the part he didn't say-_none of them want to work for my father. _Ugh. I can't stand dips in the mood like that. It just makes me feel awkward, even around people like Scorpius, who shouldn't make me feel awkward at all.

"Well, we haven't got a maid at all. Just Mum, and Hugo 'nd I to do the dishes. Most of the time Mum just puts something Gran made in the oven to heat up. Your mum's probably a better cook than mine, honestly."

"I seriously doubt _that._ When you meet Mother, you'll understand." He begins to sweep my hair across my face like a brush.

"Well, I will. Saturday."

"Yeah, Saturday. Then you'll decide that you don't want to be related to them and you'll leave me for, hmm, let's see, Sam Boot." He must _really _like my hair; he hasn't stopped playing with it since we got in bed.

"Sam Boot? Never! It'd be one of the Scamanders, for sure. Probably Lorcan. Lysander can be a bit much sometimes." I poke his shoulder.

"I should have guessed! You have a thing for blonds, do you?" Now he's braiding my hair. Should I be worried about him? Note to self: get some hair charms.

"You know I do." I giggle, and while as a general rule I abhor giggling, sometimes, it's all you can do.

He lets go of my hair, and he turns the light off.

It's time for bed, I suppose.

* * *

It's funny, Scorpius and me. We went out almost all of fourth year, in secret, of course, because of our families, although I think some of it was for drama. Going out with him wasn't the best decision I ever made-it cost me some friendships, and my relationship with James has never been quite the same-but he was my first boyfriend and my first kiss, and we got along well. Extremely well.

Being apart for the entire summer put a damper on our relationship, in addition to the whole secrecy thing. We split mutually the first week of fifth year. I remember it particularly vividly because Lily spent the entire month of September buying me things. I feel like she knew. I don't how she knew, but I'm sure she knew. I dated other boys. After school ended, I mostly went out with Muggles, because most of the playing I did then, and do now, is in Muggle venues. I never expected to end up with Scorpius. I mean, no one expects to end up with their first boyfriend. Then, we met at a party-a Ministry party, because he works for the Department of International Magical Relations, and my male cousins tend to use me as a "date" to those sorts of things when they're in between girlfriends. Sometimes Al'l take Lily and Dom does it sometimes when she's not busy, but it's usually me. I think it's because I'm the sane one. We ran into each other at the bar and started talking and before I knew it we somehow had dinner plans for the next night. The rest is history.

It's a lot easier to not tell people about your relationships when you're grown up. I see each member of my family about once a week on average, and most of that happens in a large, concentrated Weasley-mob. It's less of keeping a secret and more of "not talking about your life with family". Even so, Scorpius and I usually spend our time in the Muggle world, or at least we did, until Lily-God, who else?-saw us at a restaurant on-get this-_the Isle of Man_. We go out of our way to apparate to the Isle of Man, get a reservation at a Muggle restaurant there, and who is sitting at the table adjacent to ours? My bloody cousin Lily. She must have been stalking us, honestly, because no one ever ran into us in London, and we ate out all the time. The worst part was that Scorpius was planning on proposing and he had to go ahead and do it, right in front of Lily, who squealed the whole time. She really needs to get her own boyfriend. Anyway, Lily didn't tell anyone. She let me do it, during Easter dinner.

My dad's face went purple, my mum's lips became nearly invisible, and my gran was, surprisingly, ecstatic. Apparently she was afraid I would be single forever. She already has great-grandchildren, so I'm not sure why she was so worried about my marital status, but who knows? Most of my cousins were apathetic, aside from James, who spit his pumpkin juice out all over Victoire. He probably still remembers fourth year. My aunts and uncles were unanimously opposed. No surprise there. Mum said we'd talk about it at home and I (stupidly) told the entire table that I was an adult and that I could do whatever I wanted. All this got me was a lecture on how twenty-four is still very young and how I am "more naïve than you think you are, Rosie".

At home Dad was about to fly into a rage until I reminded him of the simple truth that I am an adult, and have been for seven years. He stopped, took a deep breath, and looked me straight in the eyes before saying:

"Fine, Rosie. But I want to meet him. I need to meet him."

"Of course," I replied, "as he'll be fathering all of your grandchildren." (Well, unless Hugo has kids, but unless he forgets to do the birth-control spell that's highly unlikely. Hugo's more of a "one-night-stand" kind of person) I admit that I was pushing it there, but I couldn't stop myself. My therapist (or, as I like to call him, my cousin Al) says I need to work on my impulse control.

He went upstairs in a cloud of anger. Mum sighed and said: "Don't taunt your father, please." Then she followed him upstairs, and that was that.

Scorpius had an equally difficult time with his parents, who, _shockingly_, wanted the same thing that mine did-to meet their future child-in-law. The dates were set. His parents next Saturday, mine next Sunday, siblings included. Then next Saturday became this Saturday and I wasn't entirely sure about this whole idea anymore.

Merlin, I need a beer.


	2. In which Rose meets Scorpius's parents

"I'm not sure about the purple; it's not really my best colour." This morning I chose a light purple blouse and a grey skirt, but now I really wonder what I was thinking.

"It's lovely. You look lovely." Scorpius pats my hand as we walk up to his parents' front door. They live in London now, which relieves me. I'm not sure I could deal with this whole "meet the parents" thing if it happened at the infamous Malfoy Manor. We knock on the door, and a smiling, uniformed lady opens it and ushers us in.

"Hello, Beatrice!" Scorpius says, smiling, "this is my fiancée, Rose. Rose, this is Beatrice. She used to be my nanny." Beatrice, who hasn't stopped smiling since we walked in, takes our coats and sends them to the closet with a flick of her wand. She doesn't say anything, but she keeps looking at me as she leads us to the sitting room. As we sit down and she leaves, I can hear her whispering to someone. However, my eavesdropping is interrupted when a tall brunette, dressed in an eye-popping shade of blue, flutters into the room.

"Hello! You must be Rose! It is so, so nice to finally meet you! May I hug you?" She speaks so fast and enthusiastically that I barely have time to register this comment before I have been enveloped in a tight, perfume-y hug.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mrs. Malfoy." I reply, the scent of her flowery perfume still lingering in my nostrils.

"Oh, please call me Astoria! Soon you'll be Mrs. Malfoy, and we wouldn't want to confuse ourselves!" I give Scorpius a look. It's a married people look, but we're almost married people and he understands that I'm trying to say "When do we tell her I'm not changing my name?". He responds with a look of his own that says it all-"After. Long after. In fact, maybe she won't even notice". He winks and I smile at Astoria.

She positions herself on the sofa, a bright and cheery yellow that clashes so horribly with her dress that it comes round the other end and complements it. "Draco!" she shouts, "they're here! Come down!"

A man's unintelligible voice shouts back. Astoria sighs loudly and yells, at a pitch to rival my gran, "Forget about it! Come down and see your son and his lovely Rose!" She turns to smile at me. "Draco has a very particular routine, and it takes him forever to get ready. I imagine Scorpius is the same way, now that he's grown."

"Well, no," I reply, "not really. He's a very fast dresser, and he doesn't do much with his hair."

Astoria looks at Scorpius' hair. "I can tell!" she laughs, "but how lucky you'll be to have the bathroom all to yourself when you're married! And all the counter space!"

I'm about to tell her that I already do, but Scorpius grabs my arm. "Do you have to go to the WC, Rose? Because I'll show you." I almost tell him no, but he gives me a "Say yes" look. I gave him an "Okay, sure, but you had better explain this later look". Damn. We are just in the _look_ zone today, aren't we?

"Yes, I do." I say.

"That's fine," Astoria replies, "maybe Draco will be here by the time you get back."

We go into the corridor and follow it past several doors until we reach the WC. Scorpius pulls me inside and shuts the door. I look around. This is a very yellow sort of toilet-yellow rug, yellow towels, even yellow-tinted photos of puppies playing in meadows, which are very disconcerting. No one wants an adorable puppy to watch them take a piss. I don't even want my fiancé to watch me take a piss. It's personal, that's what it is, no puppies involved.

"My parents don't know we live together." he says, the words blurring her spits them out so fast.

"What?"

"Rose, I don't think they'd approve."

"Well, my parents know. And they don't approve either, but screw that, because we are adults and I happen to know for a fact that my parents moved in together before they were even engaged, so if I'm debauched then they are _triple_-debauched."

"You've already got a lot going against you, Rose. I just didn't want to make things worse."

"What have I got going against me? My last name? Because I'll have you know, Scorpius _Malfoy_, that in most circles that's a point in my favor, which is more than you can say!" That was mean. I know it was mean, and I shouldn't have said it, but somehow it just wormed its way out of my mouth. Impulse control. I need to work on that.

"I just meant that our parents don't exactly get along! And-" he stops. Scorpius is a pacifist. We fight, yes, but I'm the angry one. I'm the one that says bitchy things and he's the one who pretends I didn't because he knows I didn't mean them. I hate this. He just stands there, looking at me, and guilt wells up in my chest.

"I'm sorry," I finally say, "that was uncalled for. I'm just anxious, not that that's any excuse, but-" I stop when he kisses me. It's a making-up kiss, and those are some of the best, but it's not as good as it could have been because the puppies are watching. Creepy little bastards.

"This is kind of stressful. And my mother's strange, I know." He pats my arm.

"I like your mother. She seems like way more fun than mine." I pat his arm back. His sweater is soft. I must steal it. Note to self: Steal Scorpius' blue and white striped sweater.

"Yeah, well fun's not always the best quality in a mother." He motions to the door. "We don't want them to get the wrong idea about what we're doing in here." We leave the WC and return to the lounge. When we get there, Scorpius' dad is waiting on the sofa beside Astoria.

Mr. Malfoy honestly doesn't look scary. He's pale, with blond hair greying at the temples, and he looks uncomfortable. Everything he's wearing is either grey or black. He looks like an albino bat. Astoria pokes him.

"Look, they're here. Say hello, darling!"

"Hello." he says, and that is all. He sits next to his wife and avoids eye-contact with both me and Scorpius.

"So," Astoria says, still smiling brightly, "tell us about yourself, Rose!"

Well, that's straight to the point, isn't it?

"I'm a professional pianist. I play mostly Muggle events, like weddings, restaurants, the occasional club… I've done a couple of wizarding weddings, but it's not a big business and most of them were for family. I've also performed in a few concerts, but it's harder to book concerts when you're not particularly famous" I tell them.

"Oh, you like music?" Astoria asks cheerfully.

Yes, yes I do. I'm a _professional _musician, so, you know, it's kind of a given that I like music. I mean, yeah, people go into careers they don't like, like insurance salesmen and those people who check your wand when you go into the Ministry of Magic, but not music. You have to love it to make it your career. This is partially because you won't be good if you don't, and partially because it doesn't pay that great, and unless you love it you'll probably get tired of making eight quid an hour. Ha! _Quid. _I sometimes exchange them for galleons but the exchange rate is really high and it is honestly much cheaper to live in the Muggle world. Yeah, my flat is about the size of a shoebox, but since I don't need to pay for electricity (magic), transport (more magic), or even food, really (Scorpius gets paid in galleons and he does all the shopping at the wizarding market in Diagon Alley), I have a way nicer flat than a freelance twenty-four year old musician should be able to afford. It even has the bedroom in a separate room!

"Yes, I do." Inwardly, I groan.

"How lovely! You will have to play for us sometime. Maybe you can even perform at your wedding!"

Mr. Malfoy, who had been absent-mindedly picking at the threads in his jacket, snapped to attention.

"Wedding?" he said, looking confused, "who said anything about a wedding?"

"Draco, Scorpius and Rose are engaged. That's why we're having dinner with them tonight, so we can get to know our future daughter-in-law better." Astoria pats his arm cheerfully. "I thought you knew! Scorpius, love, didn't you tell your father about your engagement?"

Scorpius wriggles around in his seat and avoids his father's eyes. Mr. Malfoy stares at me and Scorpius. "No. No he did not. I thought you two were just dating." He looks at me intently, and then at Scorpius. "Tell me, Miss Weasley, is red hair a dominant gene?" How does he even know about genetics? Seriously? I mean, I only know because I went on a date with this biologist from Leeds and the moment he found out I never took a science class past primary school (Hogwarts is great and all, but Charms isn't a great replacement for Maths, you know?) Besides, I know what he's really asking.

Astoria gives him that married-people look (the "she's-marrying-our-son-you'll-call-her-by-her-Christian-name" look), and he corrects himself. "I'm sorry, I meant Rose." He notices my incredulous look at his knowledge of freaking _genetics_, and adds: "I spent some time in the Muggle world in my youth. I thought it prudent to, ahh, learn about a new culture." Sure, that's a great explanation. Riiiiight. But Wizarding people hated him so much after the battle that it's probably true, and besides, how could Scorpius know so much about Muggle stuff as a teenager if one of his parents didn't tell him about it?

"Well, genes for hair are complicated, but since Scorpius has such pale hair, I think it's safe to say that any kids we have will be at least a little ginger." I give him a big smile. He snorts. Ha!

"Well, I think that that's marvelous! Rose, you have such pretty hair, and I'd love it if our grandchildren were lucky enough to be as pretty as you." Astoria pokes Mr. Malfoy again and reaches across to pat my arm. Scorpius and I look at each other awkwardly. All this talk of grandchildren is getting really annoying. I mean, we're not even married yet, and it's not like it's the sixteenth century or something. My sole job in life is not to immediately get pregnant on the wedding night and then spend the next ten years popping out a baby a year. I mean, we're going to get married, then we'll spend a few years living as married couple, and then we can discuss kids. I don't even actually like babies that much, you know? Little shit machines. Just because I'm a Weasley doesn't mean I have some inherent urge to breed like a rodent!

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you" Astoria looks upset, but Scorpius and Mr. Malfoy are both suppressing a chuckle.

Oh, shit, did I say that out loud?

"No, Astoria, I'm sorry. I never should have said something like that to you." Why did I say that out loud? Why? Why?

"Well, Astoria, it is mostly true. Babies are little shit machines." Mr. Malfoy says, and Astoria sighs.

"Yes, I suppose it is true. And you are right, Rose, it's important to take time to develop a relationship after you're married." Astoria tells me, smiling again. She smiles so much it's honestly kind of creepy.

Shouldn't you develop your relationship _before_ you're married? But I don't want to offend them again. So I just smile, and this seems to be enough. For a few moments, we all just sit there, smiling awkwardly. Astoria is in to it, but Mr. Malfoy is fidgeting and so is Scorpius. Finally, Scorpius puts his hand on my knee and says: "So, Mother, Father, how is the remodeling going?" Remodeling? What?

Apparently they're updating the décor in the upstairs part of the house, and Astoria cheerfully launches into a long monologue about color schemes and furniture styles. It lasts the better part of an hour, and by the end of it, Scorpius has squeezed my arm thirty times, and Mr. Malfoy is nodding off.

"The chairs have to be mahogany, of course, because I really don't find cherrywood to be as sturdy, even if it is a nicer color. What colors of upholstery do you think go best with mahogany? Your father wants black, but he always wants black, and I really think it's not healthy for you to sit in such dark surroundings all the time, Draco, you need some colour! I was thinking a yellow, floral print, florals are so current. In fact, just this April my sister Daphne, you know her daughter, Poppy, Rose, she was in your year, a Ravenclaw like our Scorpius, redid her sitting room in a floral print wallpaper, and she has this marvelous enchantment put on the flowers so that they bloom on the walls. It's so charming, and I was thinking about it for our bedroom," then Astoria glances at the clock, and continues, "but oh, dear, I've been talking so much I didn't notice that it's time for us to eat!"

She beckons to us all and we move down the corridor to the dining room, which is done up in dark wood and pale grey that was clearly chosen by Mr. Malfoy. A plump lady in uniform comes out with the food trays, and Scorpius whispers: "Nelly" into my ear as we sit down. Nelly serves us by putting the food on our plates, and then pouring out wine into the glasses for us. Everyone else seems perfectly comfortable with this, although I find it disconcerting. At home, we go in the kitchen and take the food ourselves out of whatever pot or dish it was cooked in (or, as it might be, plastic, one-spell-to-heat bag) and while Dad often uses his wand to get us drinks, it's only to make us laugh at the sight of the water bouncing through the air.

Finally, Nelly exits, and leaves us with chicken, mushrooms, and rice on our plates. I notice that Mr. Malfoy's rice is brown, and he has considerably less of it than Scorpius or I do. I laugh internally, because although Astoria is as far from my mum as a person could get, that's still something Mum would do. It makes me feel better.

No one says anything as we eat, and I'm careful to hide the mushrooms in my napkin. Finally, when everyone has finished, I excuse myself to the toilet and Vanish them. When I come back, they're talking again, discussing the marriage of one of Astoria's friend's daughters and the food served at the wedding.

"Did you like the mushrooms?" Astoria asks as I sit down.

"They were lovely, thank you." They _were_ a very nice shade of puke-brown.

"Excellent! I'm no cook, but I can do mushrooms. It's a family recipe, you know. I'd be happy to share it with you." she replies.

They continue the wedding talk, with Astoria making comments about how well certain aspects of it would work for me and Scorpius.

"I think it would be darling for you to carry roses, Rose. I grow a lovely yellow variety that I think would set off your hair nicely." Oh, great. The whole "Rose, you should like roses, because your name, haha" thing.

Mr. Malfoy, who hadn't spoken even after the odd eating-silence, focusing on his wine instead (to be fair, it was a really good wine. Not too sweet, with hints of something fruity), laughs. Seriously, the man laughed. I was beginning to think he didn't know how to laugh.

"I'm sure Rose is tired of that pun, Astoria. She'd probably prefer something less expected."

"I usually give her red tulips," Scorpius says, "and you like them, right, Rose?"

Really, Scorpius? If I didn't, do you think I'd say it, here, in front of your parents?

"Yeah, I love tulips, but red and my hair don't really mix. It's kind of blinding."

"Well, we could do tulips, but in a pale purple? I like the way your hair looks against that blouse, and I think you would look stunning in purple and white." Astoria is so nice, it's sometimes hard to believe. All she does is compliment me.

When the wine is finished, Nelly brings out little lemon cakes for dessert. They're gone fast, and finally it's time for us to leave. Scorpius, however, seems to have had a bit too much to drink, because he dashes off to relieve himself, leaving me awkwardly alone with his parents. Jerk.

"It was very nice to have you over today, Rose. You seem like a very nice girl, and a good match for Scorpius. I'm glad to welcome you to our family." Astoria hugs me. Way to up the awkwardness level. "Please feel free to floo in at any time, and tell your mother" Mr. Malfoy cringes a bit, like he's remembering that my parents hate him, but Astoria doesn't seem to see it, "I'd love to meet with her to discuss wedding plans."

Mr. Malfoy doesn't quite hug me, more pats my back, and doesn't say anything. He just looks at me, not smiling or frowning, but something in between. Then he nods.

When Scorpius comes back, I pinch him for putting me through that, and he gives me an Apology Look. He says good bye to his parents and we leave. The moment we're out the door, he turns to me and asks: "I'm sorry, I just really had to go. What did they say? What did they do?"

"Your mum hugged me and told me how glad she is I'm joining the family. Your dad just patted my back in a semi-hug."

He sighs. "Father's okay, really. He just doesn't know what to do around you. I mean, your parents and everything…" he trails off, but starts up again, "He did bad things to them, but he's done good things too, and he's not a bad person. I wouldn't go so far as to say he's good, because I know he's not really, but he's not bad either. He tries."

"I know. I could tell. That's good enough for me, anyway." Besides, I'm not marrying Mr. Malfoy. I'm marrying Scorpius, and I love him, and if his dad used to be an asshole to mine, well, that's not our problem. That's theirs, and it's not ours to take on.

I just hope that tomorrow my parents can see it that way.

* * *

**Thank you so much to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed!**


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